This property contains a read-only snapshot of the selection at the time it is referenced. If you hold onto a copy of this collection, it may differ from the actual, subsequent DataGridView state in which the user may have changed the selection. Therefore, you should not operate on a copy of the collection.

The following code example demonstrates how to use the SelectedColumns property to get the selected column in a programmatic sort. In this example, this property is used in the Sort method to determine the direction of the sort.